In the final year of the pact, weekly salaries of first-year teachers with a bachelor's degree will be $932. Educators at the top of the pay scale--those with a master's degree, 21 years of experience and 42 additional hours of college course work--will receive $2,211 a week.

The 1998-1999 annual pay range was $29,500 to $70,000. In the new contract, it will range from $31,270 to $74,201 this year; $32,521 to $77,169 in the second year; and $33,822 to $80,255 in 2001-2002.

Other key points in the contract settlement include two additional workdays for teachers; increased school board contributions to health insurance premiums; and a 20 percent salary bonus for each of two years for retiring teachers.

Prospects for an accord appeared bleak as late as 10 p.m. Wednesday. David Griffith, president of Naperville Unit Education Association, issued a statement saying that the strike would begin at 11:59 p.m. Wednesday if no agreement was reached by then. The dismal state of negotiations at that hour prompted Griffith to say that it was "highly unlikely" that schools would be in session Thursday morning.

Though some observers suggested that the union was posturing to whipsaw the school board into making more concessions, Nathan defended its bargaining team. "The teachers were quite serious, but then we started making progress," he said.

"We ignored the 11:59 deadline. It's like metaphorically speaking pulling the plug on the clock the way the state legislature does sometimes to avoid meeting the deadline."